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DON GIOVANNI · 12/06/2015 

MOZART AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

KASPER HOLTEN

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, more well-known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was actually nicknamed Amadeus (ama deus) meaning loved by God because his talent couldn´t come but from heaven. He was born on 27th January 1756 in Salzburg, originally Bavaria, so unlike most people might think, he wasn´t Austrian but Bavarian. He died long before Salzburg became part of Austria, on the 5th of December 1791. When he moved to Vienna to work he was regarded as a foreigner.

He performed in Royal courts at a very early age given his skills, he was proficient at both the keyboard and the violin. At the age of 17 he became the official musician at the Salzburg court, but unpleased, by the limitations that prevented him to dedicate himself fully to his music, he decided to move to Vienna where he was hoping to find a freer scene that would allow him to experiment way further. He produced around 600 pieces, of which one was Don Giovanni, an extraordinary opera in two acts about passion, treason and excesses. 

Mozart, Image from Wikipedia

The story is quite well-known to most of us, it was based on a play by Tirso de Molina, El Burlador de Sevilla, (1630); then versioned by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, or as we know him: Molière, with the title of Tartuffe (1664). But in any case, it tells the story of a Spanish nobleman renowned in Europe as a seducer of women. His servant, Leporello, accompanies him and reluctantly does Don Giovanni´s will. One night, as D. Giovanni tried to sneak out from Donna Anna´s chamber he is taken aback by the lady´s father who rebukes him, they have a quarrel and the struggle ends up with the murder of D. Anna´s father, (The Commendatore) at the hands of the nobleman. D. Anna couldn´t see the scene but she herd the murder´s voice, still unable to identify her father´s executioner she implores her fiancé to find him and avenge her farther for her.

D. Giovanni feels no remorse whatsoever and continues to seduce women, one of which is Donna Elvira, who despite having discovered her lover´s licentious nature she can´t help to love him still. Mozart writes for her one of the most beautiful arias in the opera, Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata. As an entertainment our nobleman turns up at a wedding where he tries to allure young Zerlina and he walks her away from her groom Massetto, who is really disturbed by the whole situation. Not long after that D. Giovanni is revealed by D. Elvira as the libertine he is and soon D. Anna will recognise his voice as the same of her father´s killer. Still, the cheeky nobleman gets away with everything, until Death in the looks of his victim appears to give him the option to change his ways and become a better man. D. Giovanni expectedly rejects its offer and Death takes him away.

There are a lot of peak moments during the opera, one I´ve already mentioned. Dorothea Röchschmann was mind-blowing in the part of D. Elvira and she interpreted Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata beautifully and a "BRAVA!" was heard from the amphitheatre left while the rest of the audience broke into applause, but it was Albina Shagimuratova and her performance of Non mi dir that really shrank my heart. I had to make a big effort not to clap! It´s such a sincere song, calm at the beginning and rises in crescendo to finish off at a climax with the phrase "Sentirà pietà di me".

Albina Shagimuratova as Donna Anna Image by Bill Cooper

Rolando Villazón was just all that you could have expected from him, he sings the role of Don Ottavio, he has a few intense moments but I have to highlight his Dalla Sua Pace and his Calmate, Idol Mio. He sings with such passion and so truthfully; he might not have the most powerful voice, but he has a very distinctive one and he uses it to interpret his character as faithful as it´s humanly possible. Unlike some other opera singers, he doesn´t only sing a role, he becomes that character and I can´t but adore his work. It is not surprising that his Mexican singer was once trained to be a ballet dancer, he probably sunk in all these interpretation skills.

Christopher Maltman as Don Giovanni, Julia Lezhneva as Zerlina, Rolando Villazón as Don Ottavio, Albina Shagimuratova as Donna Anna Image by Bill Cooper

Our Don Giovanni is performed by Christopher Maltman, from whom you would have never expected to have been trained as a biochemist before becoming an opera singer. Maltman is a natural Don Giovanni, you can see how comfortable he performs the role, he gets the character and he brings us an arrogant and vain Don Giovanni with his powerful baritone voice. He seems so effortless when he projects his voice, it´s just a real pleasure to listen to him. He recently released a film based on Mozart´s opera, JUAN, directed by Kasper Holten, no wonder he was the chosen one to interpret the role.

Alex Esposito was somewhat more believable than Simon Bailey´s but we will have to excuse the latter as it was his second time performing the role, both bass-baritones were brilliant but maybe Esposito appeared to be a cheekier Leporello than Bailey. I must say I would have liked to have seen Elizabeth Watts in the part of Zerlina.

Christopher Altman as Don Giovanni, image by Bill Cooper

I was delighted to discover that Mozart´s Viva la Libertà wasn´t cut. Back in the day, when it was first staged on 29th October 1787, two years before the French Revolution, this piece was banned form being sung. The Emperor and Archiduke of Austria Joseph II, Mozart´s protector and brother to Marie Antoinette, was aware of the situation his sister was up against. She had been married at the age of 15 to Louise XVI of France, and we all know what happened to them during the French Revolution of 1789, they both got their heads chopped. By the time Don Giovanni was premiered the environment in France was already very tumultuous and on the verge of a violent revolution, so Joseph II censored that piece, since it brought people from all classes and stratums together to sing to Liberty. The Emperor thought it might encourage the masses to stand up against the system.

But to talk of the Royal Opera House´s production of Don Giovanni is to talk about its set and lighting design. The set was designed by Es Devlin, you can understand how she wasn´t scared of going big with the set of Don Giovanni, if you look into her Bio you´ll find that she was responsible for the Closing Ceremony of London Olimpics 2012 and she has worked for artists such as Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys and many more. She has also worked for many other theatres and Opera Houses around the world. Her work is just mind blowing. 

Set design by Es Devlin, Image by Bill Cooper

At a first glance you might think you are only getting a simple flat structure with some stairs and doors and a nice projection on it, until the simple structure starts rotating to discover it´s not a flat plane but a cube, and that projection rotates perfectly along with it. But it doesn´t finish there, because the walls can be moved to create new chambers and what was before a room becomes a balcony. Also, when on tour, bear in mind that not all stages are exactly the same as the Royal Opera´s and thus the projection had to be adapted to the given setting, which I´m sure takes some hard work to make it function simultaneously with the rotation of the stage, this task was carried out by Luke Halls, video designer, and his team.

The costumes were designed by Anja Van Kragh, they are totally hand made, even the fabrics are tinted in-house. Donna Anna´s pink dress was something beyond beauty; dyed and hand-painted, it was such a piece of art.

It was a magnificent production, the attention to detail is astonishing. They´ve set the bar high for other opera houses to bit it. The mount of hard work in every field is unimaginable.